Current & Upcoming Exhibitions

On View at BHS DUMBO

Waterfront

Waterfront is
an exhibition and multimedia experience for all ages that brings to life the
vibrant history of Brooklyn’s coastline through stories of workers, artists,
industries, activists, families, neighborhoods, and ecosystems. Waterfront
traces a personal, local history of the borough’s waterfront while also
revealing the coastline's global significance. The exhibition engages with
important debates about the shoreline’s future by taking on the waterfront’s
most pressing contemporary topics including sea level rise and
gentrification. Learn more about this exhibition and BHS DUMBO
here.

On View at 128 Pierrepont St.

The Business of Brooklyn
February 23, 2018 - Winter 2019

In
conjunction with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, BHS presents The Business of Brooklyn,
an exhibition exploring the past 100 years of business in the borough. The story spans booming factories, family shops, iconic innovation, and labor struggles. The exhibition showcases images and objects from companies large and small that thrived in Brooklyn, including Domino Sugar, Squibb Pharmaceuticals, Schaefer Beer, Drake Bakeries, Abraham & Straus, Gage & Tollner, and many others. It includes numerous artifacts from the Brooklyn Chamber’s history, including a gavel that the Chamber used to convene meetings in the 1920s, the telephone the Chamber used in its first offices at 75 Livingston Street, and a program for the Chamber’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, which honored entertainer Danny Kaye. It also includes treasures from BHS’s collections, including Eberhard pencil sets, Virginia Dare bottles and glasses, coasters and trays from Brooklyn’s illustrious beer brewing history.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce in observance of their 100th anniversary.

Prospect Park has never been simply an escape from the city, but a fundamental part of it. This exhibition highlights the one hundred and fifty year social history of Brooklyn’s backyard.
Featuring over one hundred artifacts and documents, it tells the story of the 585 acres of forest, field, and swamp that Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux transformed into an urban oasis,
and how the Park has sustained generations of Brooklynites throughout the borough’s many eras of change.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance,
in celebration of the Park's 150th anniversary.

Funding for this special exhibition is made possible in part by William Coleman, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Grace Lyu-Volckhausen, Dino Veronese and Earl Weiner
Brooklyn:
A New Home, a New LifeMay 31, 2018 - Spring 2019

As they watched the Trump administration’s Muslim ban and subsequent
restraining orders move closer to the Supreme Court, outgoing Teen Council
Members identified immigration as the timely and broad topic for 2018. In
responding to their mandate, 2018 Council Members analyzed how concepts of
“us” and “them” lead to stereotypes of immigrants and considered how race
and immigration have intersected differently across eras. They sought to
strike a delicate balance between the range of immigrant experiences across
time, culture, and individual life trajectories. Council members grappled
with ongoing, unifying themes related to living away from the land of one’s
birth— language, cultural fluidity, code switching, and American immigration
law and policing. The resultant exhibition, Brooklyn: A New Home, a New
Life, features stories about historical Brooklynites: Harriet Judson,
John Roebling, Nathan Handwerker, and Shirley Chisholm, as well as Ravi
Ragbir, a contemporary immigration activist. The people featured are not all
immigrants, but each represent a different lens into the story of American
immigrants, and show, without a doubt, how Brooklyn has been shaped by the
many international ties within its vibrant and varied communities. 2018 Brooklyn Historical Society Teen Council

The Teen Council is convened through the generous support of Astoria Bank,
The Bay and Paul Foundations, Con Edison, the Ferriday Fund Charitable
Trust, the Leon Levy Foundation, and the Michael Tuch Foundation. BHS
programs are also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts
with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State
legislature; and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City
Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of
FreedomJanuary 15, 2014 - Winter 2019

This major, long-term exhibit explores the unsung
heroes of Brooklyn's anti-slavery movement -- ordinary residents, black
and white -- who shaped their neighborhoods, city and nation with a
revolutionary vision of freedom and equality. The exhibit is part of
the groundbreaking In Pursuit of Freedom public
history
project that features new research on Brooklyn's abolition movement in
partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble
Project.

View a replica of
Brooklyn Historical Society's rare
copy of the
Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and
examine its dramatic and polemic impact on Americans at the height of
the Civil War. The exhibit suggests ways that the document's social and
political meaning has evolved in the 150 years since it was signed, and
invites visitors to reflect on its legacy in the twenty-first century.Permanent
Collection Installations

Chronicling
Brooklyn's Landscapes

Features paintings of Brooklyn
from many eras
alongside a copy
of Brooklyn Historical Society's rare Ratzer Plan of New York.

Portraits
of
Prominent New Yorkers

Includes
paintings from Brooklyn Historical
Society's historic
collections as well as a recent artist commission by Meredith Bergman, Historia
Testis Temporis: Pinky.

s Steamboat Service

"The Peconic", Artist Joseph B. Smith

Ever wonder how people got from Brooklyn to Manhattan before the Brooklyn Bridge and other East River crossings? Come to the Brooklyn Historical Society and find out!

The Fulton Ferry began offering East River steamboat service across the East River in 1814. In 1839, the Fulton Ferry merged with its competitor - South Ferry - to form a new company, which was re-named the Union Ferry. Union Ferry ruled the East River and swallowed its competitors, while charging a uniform fare of a penny per passenger.

"Montauk" Artists James and John Bard

To celebrate Union Ferry's success and the supremacy of their fleets, Henry Pierrepont, a founder of the Brooklyn Historical Society and a principal in the Union Ferry Company, commissioned paintings of each boat sometime between 1840 and 1865.

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass

Exhibition ran May 2005August 2005

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publishing of the first edition of Leaves of Grass, BHS was pleased to present a small exhibit highlighting the three early editions of Walt Whitman's poem==the second (1856), third (1860), and seventh (1881-2)==that we have in our library collection. Visitors saw how Whitman significantly changed and greatly expanded Leaves of Grass, as he revised it over a period of almost forty years.

Visitors could see a tintype portrait of Whitman, an example of one of the earliest forms of photography and contrast it with the more flamboyant "Carpenter Portrait" (shown at left) that appeared in many of the editions of Leaves of Grass.

Dodgers Do It!: Celebrating Brooklyn's 1955 Big Win!

Exhibition Ran April 22, 2005December 31, 2005

The world champion pennant being hung in Ebbets Field - Collection of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library

Everything was crazy in Brooklyn last night& Nobody went home to supper& Nobody talked any sense& Everybody walked around with goofy expressions& for the unbelievable, the incredible, the impossible had come about& them Dodgers were the champions of the whole world. Saloon keepers gave away booze to guys they never saw before&Women kissed neighbors they wouldn't be caught dead talking to. Art Smith, the New York Daily News

The Dodgers' victory was Brooklyn's victory and it was felt across the borough, permeating social and racial barriers and unifying all of Brooklyn . Dodgers Do It!: Celebrating Brooklyn 's 1955 Big Win! highlighted the significant role that Brooklyn played in shaping the game of baseball. Before the Civil War, Brooklyn wrote the book on baseball and spread enthusiasm for the game throughout the country. The history continued with the Negro Leagues in Brooklyn and great baseball legends like Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, and many others who helped to define the spirit of baseball.

In game 5, Carl Furillo slides safely back to second in the eighth inning. Octber 2, 1955 - Collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library

Our exhibit walked its viewers through each nail-biting game of the 1955 World Series the Dodgers played against the Yankees. Visitors learned how the excitement rippled through classrooms, bars, and households across the borough. Ebbets Field was a place where everyone felt a part of something. The Brooklyn Historical Society celebrated the Dodgers and the energy of Americas favorite pastime. Created in partnership with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Major support for this exhibition was provided by:

General operating support is made possible with the public finds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

Beauty Suspended: The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Turns Forty

Exhibition Dates November 19, 2004March 20, 2005

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge under construction - Collection of BHS

The Brooklyn Historical Society and MTA Bridges and Tunnels partnered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with a new exhibit Beauty Suspended: The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Turns Forty, opened November 19th at the Brooklyn Historical society and ran through March 20, 2005. The exhibit told the story of the building of what was then the longest suspension span in the world, connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The exhibit explored the many political and engineering hurdles that had to be overcome for the bridge to be built. Features of the exhibit include the stories of two giants of twentieth-century bridge-building: master builder Robert Moses and master bridge engineer Othmar Hermann Ammann, as well as the thousands of workers who actually built the bridge. The exhibit included photographs, paintings and memorabilia from the Brooklyn Historical Societys permanent collection as well as the contributions of Bay Ridge residents who were impacted by the bridges construction. The oral history section of the exhibit included two films featuring the personal stories of the workers who built the bridge and members of the communities affected by its construction. Additional exhibit highlights included photographs, original drawings and watercolors, historic reports, prints, models, a section of bridge cable, and memorabilia from Opening Day, November 21, 1964, drawn from the collection of the MTA Bridges and Tunnels Special Archive. This selection of artifacts illustrated the design, planning, and construction of the bridge.

Major support for this exhibition was provided by MTA Bridges and Tunnels.

Additional support for the exhibition and its educational programs was provided by NY State Assemblywoman Adele Cohen, 46 th District; Ammann & Whitney; Astoria Federal Savings; New York Council for the Humanities, a local affiliate for the National Endowment for the Humanities; NY City Council Member Vincent Gentile, 43rd District; Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT); and New York Water Taxi. All programs are made possible by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency; and members of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall:Brewing in Brooklyn

Exhibition ran May 14, 2004October 15, 2004

The Brooklyn Historical Society opened 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall: Brewing in Brooklyn, an interactive and media-rich exhibition exploring the history of beer brewing in Brooklyn, on May 14, 2004, in its third-floor galleries. It ran to October 15. 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall examined the important cultural and economic role of Brooklyn as one of the nations largest beer producers from 1870 until the 1950s. Visitors discovered brewing methods and recipes for creating distinct flavors and aromas, as well as beer connoisseurship skills and the art of home brewing. Entrepreneurship was highlighted through case histories from Liebmanns Rheingold to the Brooklyn Brewery. On Friday evenings, May 14 through August 27, 2004 the Historical Society celebrated local brewing by creating a beer garden featuring Brooklyn bands and beer from the Brooklyn Brewery.

The Golden Age of Brewing Brooklyn boasted some 48 breweries by the 1870s and continued brewing until 1976. The rapid growth of the beer industry was due, in part, to German immigrants who brought with them a taste for good beer and strong brewing traditions. The high quality of the regions water, inexpensive labor and land, easy access to raw materials, and proximity to Manhattans huge market also contributed to the breweries success. Most breweries were located in Brooklyn neighborhoods with the highest concentration of German immigrants: Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Greenpoint. Nearly half of the brewery founders had immigrated to America between 1840 and 1860, and most traced their origins to the Bavarian region of Germany. By the industrys height, just before Prohibition, Brooklyn had joined other major cities, including Milwaukee and St. Louis, as one of the nations brewing centers. In the industrys heyday, Brooklyn beer was part of everyday life. From late afternoon through early evening, it was common to see children carrying pails of beer (known as growlers) from neighborhood taverns to houses and tenement apartments.

In the 1890s, the Temperance Movement pitted the supporters of the Anti-Saloon League against the breweries. After Prohibition was passed in 1919, making the production and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal, some breweries hung on by producing low-alcohol beers (now known as near beer). Other breweries survived by diversifying their product offerings to include ice cream and soda. When Prohibition ended in 1933, very few breweries remained. The industry rose again after World War II, but local flavor gave way to large breweries and national brands.

Malt and Memorabilia Drawing on the Historical Societys eclectic collection of beer memorabilia, 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall featured advertising posters and other graphic materials, early porcelain-topped bottles, prohibition bottles, maps, German cultural artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, and of course 100 bottles of beer. Because brand loyalty was key to any brewers success, attention was devoted to historic favorites such as Trommers, Rheingold, Piels, and Schaeferthe official beer of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Vintage Brooklyn beer, television commercials, and a film of the brewery process were also on view in the galleries. The exhibit uncovered the unique characteristics of Brooklyn brewing, with a special section on formulations of interest to todays beer drinkers and home brewers.

Exhibition of Works by Lewis Hine

Exhibition December 13, 2003March 7, 2004

Young Newsie Working Pathetic Story, 1908- George Eastman House

The exhibition Let Children Be Children: Lewis Wickes Hines Crusade Against Child Labor was on display at the Brooklyn Historical Society from December 13, 2003 to March 7, 2004.

Among the most influential photographs of Lewis Hines career, this exhibition presented 25 gelatin silver prints of children at work in New York Cityas newsies, bootblacks, pieceworkers at home, and factory laborerstaken from 1906 to 1916, which helped to change the course of history.

Born in 1874 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Lewis Wickes Hine was an educator and sociologist whose photographs captured his concern for immigrants and working-class people. Early in his career, he documented the newly arrived immigrants at Ellis Island. After World War I, as America became infatuated with modern machinery, Hine began to photograph men and women in the newly mechanized environment, thus emphasizing the human side of modern technology.

Lewis Wickes Hine was hired in 1906 by the National Child Labor Committee to document the harsh working conditions of children in the United States. He spent the next ten years photographing children in canneries, coal mines, farms, and sweatshops throughout the country. This exhibition revealed the appalling circumstances that poor, working-class children endured until legislation against child labor prevailed. It was drawn from the George Eastman Houses photographic collection, which contains nearly 10,000 of Hines original photographs, negatives, and artifacts. The Hine collection, which was given to the Eastman House in 1955 by the Photo League of New York, is the worlds largest holding of his work. Hine showed how entrenched child labor was in this country. With the help of crusaders like Hine, federal child labor legislation was finally signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938.

Brooklyn Works: 400 Years of Making a Living in Brooklyn

October 2003 to December 2006

If you worked on Brooklyn's waterfront in 1897, you might have lived at 422 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook and boarded with the Struck family and their employees pictured here. Thirteen boarders from Germany, Russia, Ireland, England, Scotland and New York slept and ate at the boarding house, conveniently located just a short walk from work.

Fish smokers, farmers, nurses, brewers, pretzel bakers, novelists, web-site designers, artists and artisans, truck drivers and bankers, which is most typical of Brooklyn's working people?... All are! "Brooklyn Works" celebrates four centuries of astonishing enterprise and ingenuity, of change and continuity. Come with us to explore the dynamic relationship linking this unique place and people.

This family-centered, interactive exhibition was about the working people of Brooklyn == their occupations, the many challenges they faced, their resilience == and how Brooklyn's workforce contributed to shaping the nation.

When you visited the Brooklyn Works exhibit, you and your family became a part of history as you were transported back to neighborhoods that reflect different periods of Brooklyn's growth. You experienced what it was like to work on the farms, docks, factories or shops in Brooklyn.

The stories of working in Brooklyn were told in the actual words of individuals from the past including: Walt Whitman, an early farmer, an enslaved laborer of the 1790s, an Irish ropemaker on strike in the 1830s, a Jewish garment worker, a 19th century real estate developer and warehouse owner, an early 20th century assembly line worker, an African American firefighter. You heard their stories, in their own words! It was a surprise to hear from today's workers and discover the challenges and rewards of working in contemporary Brooklyn.

This little girl is helping out her father, a sheet metal mechanic, on the picket line when he and his co-workers at the Federal Manufacturing and Engineering Corp. in Williamsburg went on strike in 1949. Brooklyn has a long history of workers organizing for better working conditions and wages.

Brooklyn Works traced Brooklyn's transformation from agricultural to industrial to post-industrial, from blue collar to a rainbow of collars. You were introduced to real people who have created this distinctive heritage, and discoved how we are writing tomorrow's history. The visitor explored America's biggest small town, a vibrant tapestry of neighborhoods where high culture mixes with a roll-up-the-sleeves spirit that continues to draw immigrants, industry, and opportunity.

Hospital workers? No. Factory workers today at the Virginia Dare Company in Bush Terminal. These workers mix exotic flavorings for a variety of foods sold throughout the world.

Media-rich environments immersed visitors first in Brooklyn's agricultural past, introducing them to the native Lenape Indians and continuing with a light and sound show in a recreated 18th century farmhouse. The exhibit then moved toward the East River to reflect Brooklyn's evolution into an international seaport and manufacturing town in the mid 19th century. Immigrants and newly emancipated enslaved Africans told their work stories in their own voices. In a waterfront warehouse, visitors investigated Brooklyn's central role in global trade. As visitors entered the 20th century, they stroll onto a neighborhood streetscape. In a recreated industrial environment, visitors were amazed at the number of products born and developed in Brooklyn.

Women were essential to the industrial workforce in the early 1900s, (as they are today). Located in Greenpoint, these women worked in the boxing and labeling department of the Eberhard Faber pencil factory.

Visitors learned more about the challenges longshoremen faced. In a garment factory, a sixteen-year-old worker, shared her daily work as well as the role of women in the industrial age. Inside a sugar refinery, historic video footage highlighted the experience of working in this important heavy industry in Brooklyn. In a neighborhood barbershop, oral histories revealed the challenges for people of color to earn their livelihood in the early 20th century. Ten contemporary Brooklynites shared their astonishing productivity and perspectives on living and working in Brooklyn today.